Teen convicted in Lynn gang murder

SALEM – A Superior Court jury on Monday found 18-year-old Kevin Keo of Lynn guilty of first-degree murder in connection with the fatal shooting death of a Lynn man outside a Bennett Street restaurant in 2007.Keo showed no reaction as the foreman read the verdict aloud.Sentencing is scheduled for this morning at 9 a.m. in Salem Superior Court before Judge David A. Lowy, who presided over the trial.One female juror had to be replaced for reasons not disclosed in open court and a male alternate replaced her Monday afternoon.Lowy carefully instructed the jury panel, which now consisted of seven women and five men, to begin their deliberations all over.Shortly before 4 p.m. the jury reached the verdict, finding Keo guilty of the premeditated murder of Cristian Vargas-Martinez in November 2007.A conviction for first-degree murder carries a mandatory life sentence behind bars, with no chance of ever being paroled.Keo, who was just 16 when the incident occurred, went on trial last week as being a principal and/or contributor for the premeditated ambush of Vargas-Martinez outside the Golden Lake Restaurant, 38 Bennett St., on the late afternoon of Nov. 1, 2007.Keo maintained his innocence, saying he was not involved in the fatal shooting, just merely there, but the jury thought otherwise.Assistant District Attorney James P. Gubitose presented evidence during the trial that Keo had gone to the restaurant armed with a gun after being called by Bonrad Sok, who told him that a man was at the restaurant that might have been one of the Crips gang members that slashed him with a machete in September.Keo and Sok were members of the Bloods, a rival gang of the Crips.Vargas-Martinez, 18, of 153 Chatham St., was fatally shot in the left abdomen from a .22 caliber handgun outside the restaurant around 5 p.m.The weapon has never been recovered, but a shell casing from the bullet was found at the scene.Ammunition for a .22 caliber handgun was found by police during a search at Keo?s home on Morris Street following the incident.?He (Keo) had a motive. He went down to the Golden Lake restaurant because Cristian Martinez was there and may well have been present when he got chopped,” Gubitose told the jury in his summation.A second accomplice, Bonrad Sok, 18, was convicted of a lesser charge of second-degree murder in connection with the case in May and is currently serving a life sentence in state prison with parole eligibility in 15 years.Gubitose successfully tried the case against Sok as well.